Better late than never
by LapizSilkwood
Summary: Rachel is 15 years old now and ask Cuddy about House. It's after Bombshells, they never got back together. House, Cuddy & Wilson still work at PPTH.


**A/N : **This is my first ever fanfiction so I hope you like it. I am French so if there is any mistake I apologize in advance ^^

I do not own the characters, David Shore does.

Please review :)

**Chapter 1:**

Rachel Cuddy was a 15 year-old teenager who lived alone with her mother. She had a great relationship with her. Even if she worked a lot, Lisa Cuddy had always found the time to be with her daughter when she needed her. They talked to each other about pretty much everything: school, work, movies, boys, music... But her mother never talked about men with her. She had never seen her go on a date or bring someone home. Except for this man. The one she remembers seeing at home when she was still a baby girl. Today, she didn't know why, but she needed to know who he was.

It was about 6 pm and her mother had been home early for once. Rachel walked towards the living room to find her, reading on the couch.

She entered the room and as soon as her mother looked up to her, she asked:

"Who is my father ?"

Cuddy's eyes opened wide as she tried to process what her daughter had just asked her.

"Well, I told you I adopted you and I've only met your mother. I know nothing about your father. I'm sorry." she finally answered.

" I didn't mean my biological father." Rachel retorted watching her intensely.

As her mother didn't answer she continued.

" When I was a little girl, I remember seeing you with someone" she explained " He played with me. But one day, he disappeared. I never saw him again. And since then there had been no one in your life as if you didn't want someone else ... So, who was he ?" she finished with a smile.

Lisa Cuddy stared at her. She was only 15 but already talked like an adult. It scared her somehow because she wondered when did she grow up so fast. Then obviously her thought turned to House. Thinking of him always had the same effect on her even after so long : her heart beat faster and she felt a pain in the chest. _Was she ready to tell her about him ? _She asked herself.

She hesitated but the look she saw in her daughter's eyes gave her no choice but to speak.

"Come here." she said tapping the couch and putting her book aside. Rachel sat next to her with a smile: she was finally getting an answer.

"What do you want to know about him ?"

"Everything: your meeting, who he is … but especially why you two aren't together anymore." Rachel answered after a pause.

She sighed.

"His name was, sorry is, Greg House but he is called by his last name." _Like he used to call me, always by my last name. _she thought nostalgic.

"We first met when we were in med school. And after he started to work for me as head of the Diagnostics Department because no one would hire him elsewhere. Well actually, he has been hired but fired as quickly." she laughed. "He has quite a strong personality and it seems like I am the only one who can set boundaries to him. He's the best at what he does, a brilliant mind but at the same time he acts like a 8 years-old." She smiled at that thought and paused for a while.

Rachel didn't know if she should say something or just wait.

"And he's actually your uncle Wilson's best friend."

Uncle Wilson wasn't her real uncle, but he was like one to her.

"What ? But he never mentioned him." Rachel was beginning to understand why her mother didn't say anything about him but why would Wilson hide his existence ?

"I asked him not to." Cuddy said after a moment of silence.

" Why ?" She knew her mother didn't want to tell her, but she needed to know.

_Because I didn't want you to ask me to meet him. If you two got along well it would have killed me. Yes it was selfish. I'm selfish... _Cuddy thought to herself._ I know it since that night..._

But she didn't want her daughter to know that.

"Because it's not like you'll ever meet him anyway, you didn't need to know who he was." she retorted.

"But why mum ? What is it with him that you'd hide him from me ? What happened between the two of you ?" Rachel asked curiously.

Cuddy felt the tears coming to her eyes, suddenly. Too suddenly. She looked away to hide them.

Rachel knew why when her mother looked away. She'd have said "Never mind" because she didn't want to make her cry but the need to know was too strong and so she waited.

"When he started working for me, we began to know and like each other. We were always teasing each other. We had a great relationship. He is a miserable jerk addicted to Vicodin and is always getting on my nerves but I know deep down he is more than that... Anyway one day I realized I felt more for him than for just a friend, I'm sure you know how it feels, " she told her daughter, winking.

Rachel blushed and nodded.

"Well to sum up, we were both complicated people and it took us a while to finally find each other and be together. I even tried to be with someone else when you were still a baby. We got engaged but as I didn't love him I broke off my engagement. And I decided to try with House, you were about two at that time... It lasted less than a year." she finished with a sad smile.

Rachel was puzzled. How could her mother have never mentioned what it seemed to be the love of her life ? When she thought about it, she realized that her mother had never really spoken with her about her personal life. She always deflected on her work, on Rachel's life.

" I see …" Rachel wanted to know why they had broken up, but her mother seemed so sad that she didn't insist. She would ask her later. Or not... She could ask Wilson. If Wilson was really his best friend, he should know about this.

She gave her mother a loving hug and exited the living room without saying a word.

When Rachel was out of sight, Cuddy lied down on the couch and started crying quietly.

She realized at this moment that thinking about House and the good times they had together will always be that hard, because she still loved him. Even after 13 years. Everyday of her life she has regretted this decision knowing there was no way to go backwards.


End file.
